This guest blog was kindly contributed by Peter Brant, Senior Policy Manager at The Open University. There was much excitement at the end of September as the latest Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) data apparently showed that Tony Blair’s ambitious target for “50 per cent of young adults going into higher education” by 2010 had finally been achieved, seven years behind schedule. Opinions were…
This guest blog was kindly contributed by Fiona Ross, Professor in the Joint Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education at Kingston University and St George’s, University of London and independent governor at Westminster University. This HEPI collection of essays, written from multiple perspectives, is an excellent contribution to our…
During their recent party conference, Labour reaffirmed their promise to remove tuition fees. At an (excellent) Million Plus and NUS event I attended, the audience and fellow panellists quizzed Gordon Marsden, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Further Education and Skills on what this would mean for universities. Marsden confirmed two…
This blog was kindly contributed by Paul Gratrick, Faculty Business Partner at the University of Liverpool’s Careers service where he has been researching value for money at an institutional level. Despite Universities Minsters currently playing the hokey-cokey with their role, the questioning of the value for money of higher education…
On the last day of the Conservative Party Conference, Nick Hillman assesses David Cameron’s account of higher education policymaking under the Coalition. A few days ago, I tweeted out some of the (few) things David Cameron has to say about tuition fees in his memoirs. It may seem like his…
This review is by Richard Brabner, Director of the UPP Foundation. Richard has written the piece in a personal capacity. The story of Consett, a town 14 miles south west of Newcastle, is a familiar one in England. A once thriving working-class community famous for industry, was decimated by the…
This guest blog is kindly contributed by Dr Sal Jarvis, Pro Vice Chancellor, Education and Student Experience at the University of Hertfordshire. It is the start of a new academic year. As staff thoughts turn to course induction and as Students Unions plan Freshers’ events, new students are rolling up…
This blog was kindly contributed by Andrew Stumpff Morrison, author and lawyer who teaches at the law schools of the University of Michigan, University of Alabama, and Washington University in St. Louis. U.S. Democratic presidential candidates’ most-offered proposal for reducing the financial burdens of American higher education is to make community college free of charge. The next-most popular…
This blog by Srabani Sen OBE, Chief Executive and Founder of Full Colour originally appeared in HEPI report 120 The white elephant in the room: ideas for reducing racial inequalities in higher education There is a well-worn joke: ‘How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? One…
This blog by Sanchia Alasia, Equality and Diversity Manager at Brunel University, originally appeared in HEPI report 120 The white elephant in the room: ideas for reducing racial inequalities in higher education The position of diversity professionals within an organisation is one of the first challenges of managing diversity successfully.…